MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CHARLOTTESVILLE REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY The Board of Commissioners of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (hereinafter CRHA or the Housing Authority ) met in Regular Session at 7:00 PM on in Council Chambers at City Hall. I. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Bob Stevens called the meeting of the Board to order at 7:00 PM on. II. ROLL CALL OF COMMISSIONERS Present: Mr. Jason Halbert, Commissioner Ms. Joy Johnson, Commissioner Mr. Hosea Mitchell, Commissioner Mr. Bob Stevens, Chair Mr. Keith Woodard, Commissioner Absent: Ms. Sherri Clarke, Commissioner Mr. Dave Norris, Commissioner Staff Present: Mr. Randy Bickers, Executive Director Ms. Robin Munson, Finance Director Ms. Amy Kilroy, Redevelopment Director Ms. Deetra West, Administrative Assistant Ms. Allyson Manson-Davies, Legal Attorney III. MOMENT OF SILENCE Commissioner Stevens opened the meeting with a moment of silence. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS HELD APRIL 5, 2011. Commissioner Woodard made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Commissioner Halbert. The minutes were approved. V. RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS Mr. Bickers stated a question was raised concerning the proper notice period that CRHA is required to give residents to enter their units. Mr. Bickers stated CRHA is required to give 48 hours notice in cases other than resident generated requests. Commissioner Stevens asked Mr. Bickers to give an update on the elevators at Crescent Hall. Mr. Bickers stated Thyssenkrupp has acknowledged that there were some issues with the initial installation of cables and sheaves on the large elevator that were not the proper size for that elevator according to their normal standards. Although the elevator is within the load amounts required by code and meets all safety requirements, the elevator
does not meet their normal installation standards. Thyssenkruppp has ordered replacement parts that are scheduled to be shipped in early May and installation is scheduled for the week of May 16 th. The large elevator will have to be taken off-line during the new installation. Thyssenkrupp is scheduling a week for the replacement but anticipates that the work will be completed in three days. Residents will be notified of the exact start date when it is confirmed. Staff will schedule a follow up independent inspection to verify that all problems have been properly and thoroughly corrected once Thyssenkrupp indicates that they have fully remedied the situation. Staff will also discuss maintenance charges that CRHA has incurred because of the improper installation. VI. PUBLIC COMMENTS James Jackson, a visitor of Crescent Hall, stated he was in the large elevator when it dropped from the 7 th floor down to the 5 th floor. He stated he then switched elevators to get to the 1 st floor safely but it was a frightening experience. Christine Ohse, 1611 Madison Avenue and PHAR Intern, asked the Board to postpone voting on the Section 3 policy. Valencia Dickinson, Crescent Hall resident, stated she suffers from panic attacks and is claustrophobic. She thanked the Board for looking into the elevator issues because she is very concerned for her and the other residents that live in the building. She added that she is also worried for those residents that are in wheelchairs that are not able to take the stairs when the elevators are down. Jane Foster, PHAR Advisory Board member, stated she too would like to see the Board postpone voting on the Section 3 policy until stronger language is incorporated into the document to support the hiring of low income residents. Paul Vaughn, PHAR, asked the Board to postpone the vote on the Section 3 policy as PHAR feels that more language needs to be incorporated into the document to make it a stronger policy. VII. REPORTS A. Police Report The police were not present. Mr. Bickers stated that he received a letter from the Chair of PHAR expressing concern about the police department using the 6 th St center as a drop-in substation. Mr. Bickers stated that staff was in the process of setting up a meeting until several 6 th Street residents came forth stating they did share the same feelings. The residents presented Mr. Bickers with a signed petition from 13 of the 25 households of 6 th Street that would like to see the center used as a police drop-in. Mr. Bickers stated he is setting up a meeting that will include these residents, PHAR, CRHA staff, and the Police Department. - 2 -
B. Action Items Commissioner Stevens stated the Board has decided to postpone the vote on the Section 3 policy at the request of Commissioner Norris and others until the City has passed its policy. CRHA will bring forth a policy at a later date. Mr. Bickers stated with the elimination of the domestic violence preference in the agency s waiting list process, CRHA needs to add additional language to both the Public Housing ACOP and Section 8 Administrative Plan in order to be compliant with requirements related to the Violence Act Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA). The proposed language covers notification requirements, needed documentation, additional protections for victims of domestic violence including not terminating leases for violations related to domestic violence, waiting list procedure for applicant families that split their application as a result of domestic violence, and transfer priorities related to domestic violence. HUD has reviewed and approved the draft language and the proposed changes have been posted for public review and comment. Commissioner Halbert made a motion to approve Resolution #1286 amending the Public Housing Tenant Selection, Assignment and Continued Occupancy Policy, seconded by Commissioner Johnson. The vote was recorded as: AYES NAYES ABSTAIN Commissioner Halbert Commissioner Johnson Commissioner Mitchell Commissioner Stevens Commissioner Woodard Resolution #1286 passes. Commissioner Halbert made a motion to approve Resolution #1287 amending the Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8 Administrative Plan, seconded by Commissioner Woodard. AYES NAYES ABSTAIN Commissioner Halbert Commissioner Johnson Commissioner Mitchell Commissioner Stevens Commissioner Woodard Resolution #1287 passes. C. Executive Director s Report - 3 -
Mr. Bickers stated a vacant unit was added during March making the total number of vacant units 14 which is up one from last month. This still represents a vacancy rate of less than 4%. He also reported receivables increased for the month primarily due to repayment agreements. He reported CRHA received notification on April 21, 2011that the Annual Plan for the Fiscal Year Starting April 1, 2011 has been approved. Included within this notice was specific approval of the significant change in the waiting list preference system which eliminates all of the existing preferences with the exception of the local preference. HUD has approved the Annual Plan with the understanding that the changes in the ACOP and Section 8 Administrative Plan related to the Violence Act Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA) are being voted on during this month s meeting. CRHA will resort the waiting list on May 1 st which will change the list to be more time and date driven with only the one preference remaining for individuals that live or work in Charlottesville. With this change, staff will now be able to tell an applicant what number they are on the waiting list. Mr. Bickers stated staff has received unofficial notification that CRHA sites were included in the most recent HUD auction for REAC inspectors. HUD accepts bids from independent inspectors to actually perform their REAC inspections through this auction process. If this information is correct, CRHA will shortly receive notification from the winning bidder and mutually agree on inspection dates. Based on time limits set by HUD, the inspection must occur before July 31, 2011. Staff will work to schedule the inspections around improvement projects such as the elevator part replacement and bathroom renovations as those types of projects would result in deductions if the equipment or rooms are not functional on the inspection date. Staff will also notify all residents as to when the inspections are scheduled to take place on the sites. D. Committee Reports 1. Finance Report Mr. Bickers stated March ends the fiscal year but that the books have not yet been closed as bills continue to come in related to March 31 st which will be recorded in the past fiscal year. He reported that the agency hopefully will be able to carry over close to $100K in the public housing program which will help the current year operations. The committee spent the remainder of the time discussing the Section 3 Policy. 2. Resident Services The committee met but no business was discussed due to lack of attendance. 3. Redevelopment Committee Ms. Kilroy reported staff from PHA invited Mr. Bickers, Ms. Thackston, Ms. McHugh, and Ms. Kilroy to visit the Washington DC Housing Authority. She stated they were able to learn a lot about the authority s financial information and various programs that they have. She is in the process of scanning much of the information received to distribute to the rest of the Board. She thanked the staff of PHA for inviting them. Mr. Kilroy stated there will be a Redevelopment Committee meeting in May. Due to scheduling conflicts, the meeting date has not been set however she will notify everyone - 4 -
once a date can be agreed upon. She stated work on the MOU will start later in the week and she welcomes Kathy McHugh and Melissa Thackston to the team and is looking forward to working with them. They are working together to clean up the Levy garage for use as office space two or three days out of the week. They will also be setting up office hours at all CRHA centers as available and not just limit themselves to the Levy site. VIII. OTHER BUSINESS Commissioner Stevens reported the Board has been operating without a Vice Chair and would like to take the time to nominate someone to fill this position. Commissioner Mitchell made a motion to nominate Commissioner Woodard as the CRHA Vice-Chair, seconded by Commissioner Mitchell. The vote was recorded as: AYES NAYES ABSTAIN Commissioner Halbert Commissioner Johnson Commissioner Mitchell Commissioner Stevens Commissioner Woodard The Board welcomed Commissioner Woodard as the CRHA Vice- Chair. Mr. Bickers asked residents to call the agency and inform staff of any resident high school graduates or college graduates that could be highlighted in the CRHA newsletter. Mr. Bickers also thanked Phi Delta and Chi Omega for their clean-up efforts on the outskirts of CRHA properties. They also provided lawn-moving services for some CRHA residents. IX. COMMITTEE MEETING DATE CHECK-IN Redevelopment Committee Meeting meets 2 nd Wednesday of the month ****TBD**** Resident Services Committee Meeting- meets 2 nd Thursday of the month Next meeting will be May 12, 2011 at 12:00pm in the Crescent Hall Community Room. Finance Committee Meeting meets 3 rd Wednesday of the month Next meeting will be May 18, 2011 at 4:30pm, in 2 nd Floor Conference Room in City Hall Regular Board Meeting meets 4 th Monday of the month Next meeting May 23, 2011 at 7pm, in Council Chambers X. PUBLIC COMMENTS Annette Wilcox, 1400 Monticello Road, stated it was nice to see Spring come in with bright beautiful colored flowers. - 5 -
Paul Vaughn, PHAR, stated he thanked the Board for tabling the Section 3 policy. He also stated PHAR intern members will graduate in May and thanked them for their hard work and effort while in the program. XI. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Mitchell made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner Halbert. The meeting adjourned at 7:38pm - 6 -